About Chine bLog

Chine bLog is a collection of thoughts and opinions on what I regard as the greatest of boats – the small, the tradition-inspired, the wooden, and the naturally powered. “I”, in this case, is Tim Shaw, a lifelong boater and dabbling designer and builder. In covering the topic, I will happily dip into the non-traditional (if wooden), the larger and/or powered (if wooden), and the plastic (if tradition-inspired and/or naturally powered). In other words, we are mostly talking sailing, paddling, and rowing craft and the designing and building thereof.

Traditional boats, by which I mean those craft that are the true “work” boats for a given culture – the prototypical “indigenous craft”, are a particular interest of mine. In an attempt to learn about them and catalog them, Chine bLog hosts the Traditional Boats of the World map project. Please check it out and offer suggestions. Studying these craft has firmed up my own design philosophy, which takes elements from these craft and fuses them together and with modern insights to create new, yest often very old, creations. I call these Fusion of Tradition boats, and I encourage you to consider what they bring to the collective waterfront.

Finally, in terms of subject matter, I will often include interesting tidbits about the environment we boat in. It is awe-inspiring, fascinating, and much in need of care.